React ATL

Code Jam: Build Something Gloriously Useless

Wed, Sep 23 · 6:30 PM EDT

11675 Rainwater Dr #100, Alpharetta, GA, US

No stakes. No users. No pitch deck. You get one hour and a room full of people building things that have no reason to exist. Bring a laptop.

Most build events ask you to show up with a good idea. This one asks the opposite. The assignment is to make something with no purpose, no future, and no chance of ever reaching a portfolio — a clock that's confidently wrong, a form that argues back, your first game, your first 3D scene, whatever you've been curious about but never had a reason to try.

One hour isn't enough time. That's on purpose. Pick something small enough to finish badly.

A joint build night from ReactATL, Atlanta JavaScript, VueATL, Modern Web Atlanta, and REFACTR.TECH — five communities, one room, no useful software produced.

Build for one of these

• Most Gloriously Useless — solves nothing, beautifully
• Best Demo Disaster — it worked ten minutes ago
• Worst Possible Interface — it functions. It shouldn't.
• I've Never Done This Before — first game, first 3D, first anything
• Overengineered Beyond Reason — 47 dependencies, one button

Pick a lane before you get here, or ignore them completely.

Who it's for

Anyone who writes code, at any level. Solo or on a team — find people when you arrive or keep to yourself, both work.

Build it by hand or let AI write the whole thing. We're honestly interested in both, and comparing how people went about it is half the point. If you've skipped hackathons because they felt competitive, start with this one. There is nothing to win.

How it works

Show up with a rough idea — at 60 minutes, deciding what to make after we start costs you a quarter of the jam.

At 8:00 we stop. Whoever wants to show theirs gets 90 seconds and the big screen. Live only, no slides. If it falls apart in front of everyone, that's the best outcome available to you.

Showing is optional. Nobody is going to make you.

Organizers and a few experienced devs will be floating the whole night — grab one when you're stuck, or just to talk an idea through.

Agenda

• 6:30 — Food, drinks, arrivals. Find a team or don't.
• 6:50 — Kickoff: categories, rules, demo signup
• 7:00 — Build
• 8:00 — Demos, 90 seconds each
• 8:25 — Hang until they kick us out

What to bring

A laptop. That's genuinely it — food and drinks are covered.

When & Where
📅 Wednesday, September 23, 2026
⏰ 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT
📍 Improving Offices · 11675 Rainwater Dr #100, Alpharetta, GA

Open Source Night

Tue, Oct 20 · 6:30 PM EDT

Tech Square ATL, 848 Spring St NW, Atlanta, GA, US

Open source runs the world, and most of us build on it every day without thinking about it. For our next joint meetup, Atlanta's dev communities are teaming up for a night about the code, the tools, and the people behind it.

We'll get into why open source matters, what it actually looks like to contribute, and how modern tooling is changing the way we build. Whether you've shipped a hundred PRs or you've never opened one, there's a seat for you here. Come curious.
Speakers:

• Anjie Adeyemo, Lead Advanced Analytics at AT&T, Down the Rabbit Hole: Real-World Workflows With GitHub Copilot.
• Dwane Hemmings, Developer Advocate at Vonage. Talk details coming soon.
• A third session, announced soon.

What to expect:

• Talks on open source and modern dev tooling from people doing the work
• Time to connect across Atlanta's tech communities
• Food and drinks, on us (thanks to our friends at Vonage)

When: Tuesday, October 20, 2026 · 6:30 to 8:30 PM
Where: Tech Square ATL
This is a joint meetup with REFACTR.TECH and our partner communities:

• Atlanta JavaScript
• React ATL
• Modern Web
• Atlanta Vue.js

Food and drinks sponsored by Vonage.